Ravenglass

A somewhat spontaneous trip to the Lake District happened at the end of May. I'd not been here in about twenty years so it made an interesting change, and I was surprised at just how many railway encounters I managed during the quick weekend stay.

I knew there were some disused railway lines in the area, and at first I thought I'd stumbled upon one. Wrong! This is actually the remains of the Kendal section of the Lancaster Canal. Still, the mixture of curved girders buttressing the stone bridge is unusual, and highly model-able.

Walking back into Kendal itself though this small lockup was passed. A really nice reference for structure modelling, and the triple sliding doors are a nice change from the norm.

Onwards, there was a chance to call in at the Haverthwaite end of the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. This was a line that I'd travelled on last time, and from what I remember of it it's a very pleasant run and a very handy connection for the steamers on Lake Windermere at the other end. If you're ever planning to explore that part of the lakes, travelling this way is far less hassle than trying to find a parking space.

There wasn't enough time to take a train ride this time around, but that didn't stop the railways gift shop from lightening my wallet a little! Prototype-wise, Haverthwaite has a lot going for it for the space starved modeller, especially given how the station is bordered by tunnels at either end.

Looking back at the other tunnel. I really like the composition of this with the starter signal and water tower.

Next stop of the day was Millom. Whilst the other were busy shopping I was tasked with the job of exercising the dog for a few minutes. Not a bad place to stop really. For starters the local Tescos is, in what is a recurring theme for old UK railways, built on the site of the old station yard, with the goods shed seemingly having been converted into the supermarket. If it isn't the original building, it's a very good facsimile for railway style architecture.

Taking a walk round to the station from the car park revealed a nice set of rusty buffers in a disconnected bay platform. I kept stumbling over these nice examples to model on this trip.

Also there was the local train stopped in the station. Turns out there was a problem with one of the level crossings just outside the town. With the nearest 'big' station probably being Barrow, a good three quarter hour drive up, round and down the other side of the estuary, it clearly wasn't going to be a quick fix! I can't say I saw any trains on this stretch fr the rest of the evening.

And finally that evening saw us arriving at 'base camp' for the weekend - The old General Manager's bungalow on the platform of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. It's a cosy place. If I had one nitpick - It's the directions on the welcome pack for how to access the building. It simply states 'entrance round the back', making no mention of the need to navigate round the railway from the car park, quite the trek going up and round the turntable each time. It was about the third of fourth journey when a staff member appeared and told us we could use the barrow crossing behind the 'staff only' gate as a short-cut.

One benefit of staying on site is that I could get into the railway's museum bright and early at 9am when there was no one else around. About ten years ago I stumbled upon the work of Sir Arthur Heywood and his railways at Duffield Bank and Eaton Hall, but this was the first time I'd ever seen any Heywood stock in person. Katie surprised me - She's bigger than I had expected! I certainly didn't expect the funnel to be taller than myself.

Despite the less than ideal lighting, being the only person in the museum allowed me to get a mountain of references photographs of areas that seem to escaped attention both online and in the excellent book by James Waterfield on the DBR. The biggest mystery was the colour of the tank tops - They're red oxide!

Yes, there is a Heywood project in the works. More on that next year (Probably!)

Reference photos were also taken of the surviving Ratty coach body. It's a good lesson in how photographs can only give you a gleam of an idea about rolling stock sizes. I'd always assumed the smaller windows on the sides and ends of the coach were above head height for a sitting passenger (Thinking it was like a cattle van with glazing!) but the coach is much lower than I'd imagined. Certainly one on the 'to do' list modelling wise. I've found I quite like scribing, but I've built a brake van, and I've built Toby, a slightly shrunk 009 version of this coach is probably the next logical step.

With the Heywood interest I had hoped River Irt would be in service. Unfortunately not, the trade off however was a ride up to Dalegarth behind River Mite, another one on the bucket list.

And from the station it was a short walk up to Boot and the site of the old 3ft gauge terminus. The original plan had been to get off at Beckfoot and walk up and round in a loop, but the maps I had to hand showed the lane along the old railway behind the Dalegarth cottages as a private 'no go' road, however all the material published by the railway says it's a route the public can walk. Which is correct I still don't know, but we got as far as the gate on the Boot side of the cottages before deciding to turn back.

Just how evident the course of the old railway was surprised me, especially when you consider this section was officially abandoned sometime in 1918. There are parts that have obviously been put in to show the old line, but peeking through the grass every now again you'll find the odd sleeper or heavily corroded rail top peeking through.

Spotted at Dalegarth, a cut out of Katie watches over the station clock.

And heading back to Ravenglass it was River Esk at the head of the train. Confession time: I'm not normally the biggest fan of engines being painted black, but it looks so right on River Esk that I think I prefer it over the probably more well known green livery. Only the second time I've thought this, the other loco who has the honour is the Ffestiniog's Linda!

Coasting back down the estuary, I had to get a photo of Miteside Halt. It's not the original boat, or even the right station, seen in the classic postcard image but it's a great little nod to the railway's past, and clearly gets a lot of people talking!

Back at Ravenglass, and after a very good meal at The Ratty Arms I couldn't help getting a snap of this track maintenance vehicle, clearly built up from an old Massey Ferguson tractor!

On the Sunday it was a case of having a 'round trip' of the lakes and taking in as many places as possible. You can imagine my surprise when, walking along the quayside at Whitehaven, I suddenly noticed the obvious remains of longitudinal sleepers and the holes for sleeper chair bolts in the stones. A quick cup of tea and the use of their free wifi at 'The Edge' told me that this was the remains of the Whitehaven harbour railway. Long gone, but sill apparently causing problems for the locals. There's a tunnel built by the railway company just to the north, when it rains the water running out is a bright orange, and it keeps finding its way into the harbour turning the sea orange too!

What is quite nice is that the majority of the town's buildings that form the backdrop for the old railway photographs are still visible today.

And a small memorial mosaic in the high street. At first I wasn't sure if a Crampton ever ran here, but further research shows that the Lowca Engineering Works that made the first engines of the class was based near here.

From there it was a quick drive over the Keswick, unknowingly travelling as close as possible to the route of the old railway line to get there! Despite seeing signs for the old station and the rail trail to go with it, there simply weren't enough hours in the day. I did get to fulfil a long ambition of going to the Pencil Museum though! The livery on the Morris J-Type van though was certainly worthy of a reference photograph. I've wanted one of these on a layout for quite some time.

And that really brings the trip to the lakes to a close. But one more thing before I bring this post to a close...

If you know where to look, Sodor is closer than you think!